Does usual practice of physical activity affect balance in elderly women? = Prática habitual de atividade física afeta o equilíbrio de idosas?

Introduction: The systems responsible for maintaining postural control naturally went into decline with advancing age, something which may compromise the ability to keep posture within the stability limits, influencing on the balance of body structures and increasing the risk of falls. Objective: Check the impact of the usual practice of physical activity on stabilographic parameters, and the static and dynamic balance of physically independent elderly people. Materials and methods: This is a cross-sectional and descriptive study. The sample consisted of 77 women aged from 60 to 75 years, stratified into 5 groups according to the physical activity classified by means of the international Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). We used strength platform for stabilographic evaluation, one-foot standing test (static balance), and the time up and go test (dynamic balance). Results: We observed statistically significant differences in all stabilometric parameters analyzed, except in the oscillation speed in the X axis. On the other hand, the results regarding functional tests showed no significant difference among the groups, however, for the time up and go test we identified a tendency to good functional mobility with an increase in the usual practice of physical activity. Conclusion: The increased usual practice of physical activity represents and improved body stability quantified by means of stabilometry, a fact not shown in the neuromotor tests.